Buffalo, Northern Illinois top conference following weekend victories
Junior defensive back Xavier Crawford goes for a tackle against Buffalo opponent on Oct. 6 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
In Week 6 of the college football season, Mid-American Conference play hit full stride with all of the conference teams facing opponents.
Week 6 Scoreboard - Saturday, Oct. 6
Buffalo 34, Central Michigan 24
Western Michigan 27, Eastern Michigan 24
NIU 24, Ball State 16
Ohio 27, Kent State 26
Miami (OH) 41, Akron 17
Toledo 52, Bowling Green 36
Following these results Buffalo, Toledo, Ohio, WMU and NIU are the remaining undefeated teams in conference play. The Bulls currently lead the MAC East Division and the Huskies lead the MAC West Division.
Here is a deeper look inside of Saturday’s competition:
WMU 27 EMU 24
In the Broncos (4-2, 2-0 MAC) homecoming game, it took a second half comeback to seal the victory at Waldo Stadium. Trailing 17-14 to open the fourth quarter, junior quarterback Jon Wassink found junior wideout D’wayne Eskridge for a 49-yard completion setting up a 1-yard rushing score from Wassink on the next play.
The Eagles (2-4, 0-3) scored a touchdown with 20 seconds to go, but failed to recover the onside kick. The Bronco defense totaled eight tackles for loss, three sacks and one turnover. Junior linebacker Alex Grace recorded a game-high 12 tackles.
Ohio 27 KSU 26
Trailing by five points heading into the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Bobcats (3-2, 1-0) needed to score a touchdown. Junior quarterback Nathan Rourke answered with an eight-yard rushing touchdown to win it. KSU (1-5, 0-2) freshman kicker Matthew Trickett had four field goals, including a 28-yarder with 5:12 to go extending the lead to 26-21.
Rourke went 18-for-20 with 284 yards with a touchdown on top of his game winning rushing score. The win gave Ohio’s head coach Frank Solich his 100th victory in his 14-year tenure with the Bobcats.
NIU 24 BSU 16
The Cardinals (2-4, 1-1) couldn’t slow down the rushing attack of redshirt junior Marcus Jones and redshirt sophomore Tre Harbison who combined for 178 yards on the ground with two scores in the victory for NIU (3-3, 3-0). BSU made the game close late with a 3-yard score in the fourth quarter from senior running back James Gilbert making it 21-16. The Huskies, however, never trailed in the contest. Redshirt junior linebacker Antonio Jones-Davis led the NIU defense with 16 tackles.
UT 52 BGSU 36
A pair of underclassmen in sophomore quarterback Eli Peters and redshirt freshman running back Bryant Koback led the way with six total touchdowns for the Rockets (3-2, 1-0) offense. It was the first-career start for Peters, who tossed three touchdowns and completed 17-of-35 passes for 184 yards. Koback combined with sophomore tailback Shakif Seymour for 191 yards on the ground.
Miami (OH) 41 Akron 17
RedHawks (2-4, 2-1) redshirt senior Brad Koeing totaled two interceptions and one fumble recovery leading his defense to a five turnover showing in the blowout win against the Zips (2-2, 0-1).
Fellow redshirt senior Kenny Young led the Miami offense with 78 yards on the ground and two scores plus a receiving touchdown. Miami racked up 422 total yards on offense while holding Akron to just 259 yards.
UB 34 CMU 24
The loss dropped the Chippewas to fifth place in the MAC West. For the Bulls (5-1, 2-0), it was the exact opposite as the victory propelled them to first place in the MAC East. UB rushed for a season-high 307 yards against CMU, led by redshirt freshman Kevin Marks who totaled a career-high 167 yards. Freshman tailback Jaret Patterson totaled 121 yards himself with a score. CMU turned the ball over four times.
